Developers Understand Importance of Choosing IoT Platform: Report

The research highlights the need for common standards and policies as key to accelerating the benefits of IoT

Developers understand the crucial importance of choosing an Internet of Things (IoT) platform that securely, efficiently and economically supports their IoT applications, instead of relying on external parties that can sometimes costly to run and maintain, according to a new research published by element14 – the development distributor.

For 52 per cent of developers, security continues to be the major considerations, according to the survey, conducted by Premier Farnell in late 2018, with 1042 respondents across Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

More than half (about 58 per cent) of the respondents advised that they prefer to design themselves an entire solution for edge-to-cloud-security, rather than depending on the third-party providers.

Hardware platforms are crucial

The research on the IoT confirms that hardware platforms have become a crucial part of early stage design process, allowing engineers to test the designs speedily at less cost and quickly deliver proof of concept (PoC).

Half of the developers use single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black as they offer ready-to-use embedded development platforms for building end-products, the survey notes.

Other developers use their own design platforms (27 per cent) or development platforms provided by the silicon vendors (19 per cent), it says.

Commenting on the findings, Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Solutions Development for Premier Farnell and element14, said, “Opportunities within the IoT have grown as developers gain greater access to hardware and software solutions that allow them to bring products to market quickly.”

“element14 provides access to an extensive range of development tools for IoT and works with innovative providers to bring the latest for AI and security, including the SmartEdge Agile, adding intelligence at the edge with zero-code, to the Zymbit ZYMKEY 4i security module for plug-in security in connected devices,” Ortmeyer said.

Need for common standards

The research also highlights the need for common standards and policies as key to accelerating the IoT benefits. Interoperability (certified standards), open standards, connectivity standards and common privacy policies were all on the top of the list of developers.

Opportunities within the IoT will continue to grow and major application areas including home automation, industrial automation and control and artificial intelligence (AI), are likely to grow in the coming five years, the report says.